Improvement in spool-printing machines



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

T. E. KING. SPOOL-PRINTING MACHINE Patented July 4,1876.

WITNESSES.

N. PETERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPMEIL WASIiINGTON- D. C.

z Sheets-Sheet z[ T. E. KING.

SPOOL-PRINTING MAE'HINE.

No.179,56-9. Patented July 4,1876

f A l K/ \M NEssEs. INVENTOH.

TES

UNLII'IE i ATE IMPROVEMENT IN SPOOL-PRINTING N IACHINE S.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 179,569, dated July 4,1876 application filed May 6, 1876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it .known that I, THEODORE E. KING, of Rockville, in the county ofTolland and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Machines for Stamping the ends of Spools; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, whereby a person skilled in the art can make anduse the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawlugs, andto theletters of reference marked thereon.

Like letters in the'figures indicate the same parts.

My invention relates to a machine for impressing or printing anycharacters upon the ends of a spool by an automatic motion of theseveral parts after the spools have been placed in the machine. It hasfor its object the rapid and effective stamping of the characters ordesign into the wood of the sp0ol,'and the printing or coloring of thebottoms of the recesses formed, so as to show plainly and clearly theform of the characters stamped.

Myinvention consists in the mechanical de- Vices hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, on two sheets, Figure l is a top view ofmy improved machine. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the middleof the same. Fig. 3 shows a dross-section through the middle, lookingoutward.

A is the frame of the machine. B is the the main shaft, giving motion toall the parts, which is driven by the pulley C. D E F G are diskssecured to the shaft B, and turning with it. D and G might be armsonlybut I prefer to make them of the form shown in the drawings. H is aguide or channel, to conduct the spools intothe machine. I 1 is a doublerotating spool-carrier, secured to the shaft B, for the purposeot'picking up one spool at each revolution, and holding those remaining inthe channel H from passing out, except at the proper time. J is aspring,

which restsupon the top of the spools as they pass through the machine,and holds themdown upon the carrier I l. K is a hollow spindle, slidingin sockets in the disks D and E, and firmly secured, by a set-screw, tothe arm L, which slides back and forth upon the shaft B. This is toprevent its rotating in its socket. The spindle K and the arm L arepressed back toward D by the spring M. N is aspindle, sliding within thehollow spindle K. 1t has a spring, 0, which presses it back to the rear,and a sliding pin, P, to prevent its being withdrawn from the spindle K,but which allows of some longitudinal play. At its rear end is the headn, which runs upon the cam Q as the machine turns. hen not in contactwith the cam Q the head a is pressed away from the rear end of K, andthe forward point of N enters within the spindle K. This point is forthe purpose of entering the hollow axis of the spool, and is split, asshown in the drawing. The hollow spindle K is to carry the stamping andprinting die It, as shown in the drawing. The cam Q is for the purposeof pressing forward, first, the in terior spindle N, and then, when thehead a reaches the rear of the hollow spindle K, both together, as themachine revolves, until the head a passes over the cam. The cam Q is setwith adjustable screws upon the frame A, which is made firm enough togive a sufficient pressure to the dies, but yields slightly under anexcessive pressure. For this purpose the frame is tied together by therod S, which has at its ends the springs T. Upon the op posite end ofthe machine are the parts K L M N O P Q R 'n, exactly similar to thoseof the same letters above described, and intended to act conjointly withthem upon the spool, for the purpose of stamping the two ends at thesame time. The faces of the dies R R fall back flush with the faces ofthe disks E F after the spool is stamped, and the spindles K K arereleased, and pass under inkingrollers U U, by which the coloring matteris spread upon their faces for stamping the next spool. The rollers U Uroll against the faces of the disks E F, so as to evenly distribute anycoloring matter placed upon them.

For the purpose of adapting the machine for stamping different kinds andsizes of spools, the several parts above described are attached to themain shaft B and the frame A by means of set-screws, which admit of amovement of the disks, dies, and cams, to adjust them for a longeror'shorter spool. The spool-carrier I I also admit-s of an adjustment topick up and convey between the dies spools of different diameters, asfollows: The faces a and b of the carrier are so proportioned andconstructed, that when the face a is turned back from the center of thespindles N N, the points upon the two faces a and b, which would betouched by the circumference of the barrel of a spool lying in theangle, are equally distant from the line of the axis of the spindles, sothat the carrier, turning with the dies, has only to be set a littleforward or back upon the shaft to accommodate itself to different sizesof spools.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The spools are placed, byhand or any suitable mechanism upon the feeding-trough H, and are takenoff, one by one, by the carrier I 1, the outside curve of which holdsback the others until the next revolution, when the next one falls inupon the face I), and is taken off as before. As soon as the spool istaken up by the carrier the spindles N N advance, as before described,and enterthe holes in the ends of the spool. While this is being donethe spool is held in the carrier by the spring J, under which it passes.As the disks rotate the spindles K K, with the dies R R, advance andstamp the ends of the spool while passing over the highest parts of thecams Q Q. The spindles are then released by these cams, and the spoolfalls out of the machine, while the dies pass under the rollers U U, tobe inked for the next operation.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. The rotating carrier I I,constructed, as described, in combination with the feedingtrough H and afixed spring, J, attached to the frame, substantially as herein setforth.

2. The combination of the spindles K K, the spindles N N, and carriers I1, arranged to move conjointly in the manner described, and to stamp theends of the spool while moving through the machine, substantially asherein set forth.

3. The combination of the spindles K K, with their dies R R, the disks EF, and the inking-rollers U U, substantially as herein described.

4. The yielding frame A S T, in combination with the stamping mechanism,substantially as herein described.

5. The combination of the spindles K and N and the springs M and 0,arranged upon a rotating shaft with the fixed cam Q, substantially asherein described.

6. The combination of the stamping-s undles K K with the carriers I 1,arranged to move conjointly around the same central shaft in the mannerdescribed, to stamp the ends of the spool while in motion through themachine, substantially in the manner herein set forth.

THEODORE E. KING. Witnesses: JOHN T. PETERS, THEO. G. ELLrs.

